Fresh college strike warning issued in Scotland despite calls from management for new talks to find 'solutions'

The EIS-FELA union accused College Employers Scotland of ‘misleading’ claims

A fresh strike warning has been issued in a dispute over pay for Scotland’s college staff after an industry leader pleaded for trade unions to start being “pragmatic”.

Gavin Donoghue, director of College Employers Scotland (CES), has used an article in The Scotsman today to urge the unions involved to take their last pay offer to members.

He said with the Scottish Government unwilling to step in, it was time for employers and trade unions to “come together to find solutions”.

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But the EIS-FELA union, a self-governing body within the Educational Institute of Scotland union for college lecturers, said the lesson from other recent industrial disputes in Scotland was that fair pay rises are only offered in the face of strikes.

Lecturers in all of Scotland’s 26 further education colleges begun a campaign of industrial action in May. Members of the EIS-FELA union voted to engage in action short of strike, consisting of a resulting boycott and work to rule.

It means student assessments are marked, but the results are not entered into college recording systems.

EIS-FELA has previously said it would consider escalating industrial action to include strikes to coincide with the new academic year in August. Colleges have faced budget cuts of £52 million in the last academic year, and were left furious after the government withdrew a proposed £26m funding uplift.

In his article, Mr Donoghue said: “As things stand, the EIS-FELA and two of the support staff unions – UNISON and Unite – have yet to give their members a chance to formally vote on the employers’ pay offer.

"Even though, if accepted, CES’s proposal would deliver an average pay rise of 8 per cent for lecturers and 11 per cent for support staff over the two academic years. A pragmatic approach from trade unions is vital given the challenging financial position colleges find themselves in.”

He added: “If the Government will not step in, employers and trade unions need to come together to find solutions. Students should not be made to suffer because of circumstances beyond their control, and industrial action that disrupts learning and targets student progression is in no one’s interests.”

However, EIS-FELA said the statement was “misleading”, with the offer for lecturers essentially being a 4.5 per cent pay rise for 2022/23 and 3.5 per cent for 2023/24.

A spokesperson said: “Teachers took sustained industrial action to obtain their 14.5 per cent pay increase over 28 months, and Scottish doctors were about to take industrial action before an improved offer of 17.5 per cent over 24 months.

"College lecturers have not taken national strike action yet and prioritised the teaching of Scotland’s students so that all could complete their courses. The EIS has minimised the impact on students’ learning by taking industrial action short of strike action, and the college employers and Scottish Government have not significantly improved the pay offer.”

She added: “The lesson for college lecturers is that they must take responsibility for ensuring that they get a decent pay rise to mitigate the effects of the cost-of-living crisis, and that industrial action is the only route available to do so.

"Recent history has shown lecturers that the Scottish Government only puts in extra funding after strike action.”